One of the most outspoken members of the iconic Wu Tang Clan, Raekwon brought Vancouver a much needed dose of the wu. There was no better stage for this master lyricist and no better crowd then the fine folks at Fortune Soundclub. Unfortunately for anybody who made the long trek to Tennessee for this years Bonnaroo music festival would have noticed this certain member absent from what was promised to be a highly anticipated event. “Due to malpractice business, faulty shit that I cant stand I couldn’t attend that; know what i mean?” Raekwon admitted to being the main reason he was not at one of the biggest shows of the year. “I was glad that my family still went out there and represented it and did what they were supposed to do.” Although he wished he could have been out on that stage it still stands to show that after 20 years the Wu is still as dysfunctional as ever. Financial disputes, personal beefs and everything in between has made for the Wu saga to constantly be an interesting story to follow.

With a new album on its way F.I.L.A (Fly International Luxurious Art) will be out later this year and promises to give fans a new perspective to vibe with. “I’ve been working real hard, I’ve been working on the last 8-9 months straight building some new production thats amazing.” he wants the translation of the record to reflect that “I am a street rapper from 1 – 6 and I am a businessman man from 6 –12.”It’s that respected view that will show both sides to Rae as he translates for a more solo focused career. This album will be out closer to September and promises to be a star studded affair. Finally we spoke about his love for the city of Vancouver, “It’s a money city, you can tell there is money out here.” “You got mad hip hop heads out here, I would live out here” Raekwon proudly proclaimed.

At the very end Raekwon thanked me for my time, got up and hit the stage to blow the roof off Fortune. An already highly amped crowd Rae hit us with all our favourite classics from a twenty-two year span of work. It didn’t matter that he was 6 members light the crowd filled in perfectly. His witty stage antics, lighting quick flow and all around aura that took in everything it surrounded made for one of the best shows of the year. Most rappers will do just a verse or two from a collaborated song but not Raekwon he hit us with full tracks and a very Wu heavy set. Highlight of the night had to be the stage banter between Rae and an extremely drunk die hard fan who thought he could be Cappadonna to the point of a bet being made that would end with one of the two slamming an entire bottle of Hennessy.

“I only got my word son!” he said with out a beat to this intoxicated fan but after some thought and deliberation all bets were squashed and the show continued to the delight of fans across the room. Nearing the end of the show, possibly one of the most impressive single man performances of the hardest songs to rap; Triumph showed us his true power as he blasted every lyric mostly word for word for six minutes until completion.

And after all the dust settled, the bar lights came up and the crowd gathered itself after witnessing one of hip hops biggest icons it was time to go home. We enjoyed ourselves, we met one of our heroes and got to cross an event off our bucket list. Next time Raekwon the Chef hits the stage in Vancouver it be foolish to skip out on this for any reason. Maybe, If we are lucky he’ll bring a few of our favourites with him to see the songs from our most beloved rap record come to life finally in Vancouver.